Sacharazonta Rooters had to make a hard choice, one that experts say is common among low-income families facing eviction.

(Rose Baca/Staff Photographer)

Late rent and hefty fees

Rooters is 55, but has the medical conditions of someone much older: Strokes, heart problems, an autoimmune disease, chronic pain. She receives disability checks from the government, she says, for a total of $9,000 a year.

She has also relied on a Section 8 housing voucher, which for the past eight years allowed her to pay reduced rent for an apartment in far northeast Dallas. The government covered the difference between what she paid and the market-rate rent.

Last year, Rooters started struggling to pay her portion: $173, plus utilities.

Her apartment complex legally charged her late fees of $190 each month.

Apartment complexes often charge hefty fees to encourage on-time payments, but in this case, that meant that the fees were higher than Rooters' portion of the rent.

Texas does not regulate how much landlords can charge in late fees except to say they should reflect a reasonable estimate of the damage to the landlord. Under the standard Texas lease, any money you pay can go to cover the fees first, leaving you behind on the rental portion of the bill.

Even after the apartment complex agreed to waive late fees, she still owed more money than she had.

After The News published the story about her predicament, readers reached out wanting to help. Rooters and her family said they received $625 in donations, including a surprise visit from a stranger who brought supplies for Rooters' two cats and $500 in cash.

The good deed left Rooters in tears.

“It means there are still good people in the world,” she said at the time.

Rooters’ two adult children had pooled their savings to help their mom. With the extra donated money, the family said, they had enough to make things right with the apartment complex, Eleven600, and its management company, City Gate Property Group.

But a deal that lawyers reached soon fell apart.

Facing eviction and unsure of whether she would have to move, Sacharazonta Rooters had packed up her personal items in August.

(Rose Baca/Staff Photographer)

‘Damned if we do, damned if we don’t’

Under that deal, court records show, Rooters was supposed to pay $1,500 and move out. In exchange, the landlord would agree to give her a neutral reference and dismiss the eviction case, leaving her most recent rental record clean.

But Rooters paid only $400, said Maryann D’Aniello, a lawyer for Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, which offers free legal help.

The lawyer for the apartment complex, Daniel Paz, declined to comment, except to confirm that Rooters did not comply with their agreement.

Rooters’ son, Fred, who works as a bartender and helped his mom navigate her eviction case, said the family had planned to pay the debt in full. They knew that a court judgment would make it difficult to rent elsewhere — and cause her to lose the housing voucher that kept her rent low. They also knew it was the right thing to do.

But then, the family began to worry: If they paid the remainder of the $1,500 and moved out, where would Rooters live?

Housing vouchers are hard to use in Dallas' hot rental market. Nearly 90 percent of apartment complexes in the region do not accept vouchers, one recent survey found.

Fred Rooters said he realized he would probably have to help his mom pay full price for the next apartment. He began looking for a second job.

Around that time, Rooters reneged on the deal with the landlord. Her family said she needed the money for movers, for storage, for a new, higher rent.

“We are in a situation where we are damned if we do, damned if we don’t,” Fred Rooters said.

Fred Rooters has helped his mother, Sacharazonta, navigate her eviction case. He believes he may have to rent an apartment for he and his mother to live in together.

(Rose Baca/Staff Photographer)

Survival

Housing experts warn against taking Rooters’ path. They say renters should do everything they can to avoid eviction — and keep their housing voucher if they have one.

But, experts say, low-income families struggling with housing often prioritize short-term expenses because they are focused on survival.

“They quit looking at the future altogether,” said Sherri Ansley, executive director of Housing Crisis Center, a Dallas nonprofit. “It’s: ‘What have I got to have now?’”

Rooters moved out of her apartment last month.

Records show she was formally evicted, with a court judgment against her. A spokesman for the Dallas Housing Authority declined to comment on Rooters’ case, citing client confidentiality, but said eviction is generally grounds to revoke a voucher.

Rooters temporarily moved in with her daughter, who has a one-bedroom apartment. But the next day, Rooters had a stroke. She’s now staying at a rehab facility in Plano, Fred Rooters said.

When she gets healthy enough to move, her son said, they’ll work on finding her a new place to live.